Electrifying Charge

Speaking more about it,team manager Ketan Mhasawade says,“The Tune Trial Extreme Grand Prix (TTXGP) is a part of the FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) and conducted the world’s first ever zero emission electric super bike race at the Isle of Man Circuit,in the United Kingdom. The circuit is notorious as it has the distinction of being one of the most treacherous circuits in the world,and we managed to secure a third place podium finish during the race. While the race went into oblivion,unheard of back here in India,our bike and performance as far as the engine is concerned was greatly appreciated.”

Ketan and his team of five members at a total cost of Rs 25 lakhs built the T001X electric super bike. Aditya Dhage,team sponsor head says,“The T001X,which won the championship this year was a first generation electric super bike. For the next year’s race we have learnt that it will be a series of races at different circuits around the world,like the formula one race. So we will have to not only redesign the bike and build a new chassis from composite metals but also develop a faster and better battery pack changing method. As of now we are struggling to do the same because,we not only have to have a prototype design ready by January,but have a track ready version ready by July.”

According to the new set of regulations,the Tork India team needs to have a bike that will not only clock over 100 miles an hour but also be able to race on professional circuits for longer time durations. Kapil Shelke,team leader says,“The total budget for the entire race season next year is Rs four crore. We need to have extra packs of batteries,which alone cost more than 50 lakhs. In addition to that we need to develop a new chassis,transmission systems,and upgrade the electronic systems of the bike,which will cost a lot as most of the materials have to be imported from America or from Europe.”

All is not lost,however for these six fresh engineering pass outs from DY Patil College. Mhasawade along with Shelke,Dhage,Ajit Jain (chief technician) Krunal Nanavati (team manager) and Nishant Kalbhor (IT systems head) aim to build a prototype of the bike for the Auto fest in Delhi in January and also hope to garner enough sponsors to have the bike ready for the trials in May. Now that’s what we call re-energising optimism.